


Respite

by Enby_Tiefling



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Grief/Mourning, Napping, Post-115, implied Percy/Tary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 15:52:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18742204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enby_Tiefling/pseuds/Enby_Tiefling
Summary: Whitestone was not left undefended the day Vecna was defeated. The guard in golden armour welcomes the heroes home.





	Respite

He's there when they arrive in Whitestone, pacing a hole in the carpet outside Cassadra's room with a lance in hand. Doty, in ramshackle repair, is at lopsided attention at the door, book tucked away in its chest. 

"Taryon?" Percival says with barely-contained relief, shoulders sagging. Tary spins abruptly on his heel, weapon raised, before dropping it with a clatter and an excited cry. 

"You're alright!" He cries, darting forwards with far too much agility for the bulky armour he wears. He wraps Percy in a tight embrace, but releases him immediately at his pained groan. "Oh dear, you look - well, look at you both, in such a state..." One hand absently moves to brush Vex's hair from her face. She's standing a step behind Percival's shoulder with hunched posture and a shadowed expression. "When I saw your sister arrive so badly injured I just knew something was afoot. Rest assured, she's sleeping well inside. Whitestone is untouched by... Whatever all that was."

Vex sidesteps his fussing, leaning against the wall. Trinket presses against her legs and moans pitifully as he nuzzles her limp hand to no avail. 

Percy holds Taryon by the arms, grip firm, almost desperate, but his attention is obviously split as his eyes dart from Tary to Cassandra's door. 

"I thought you were bound for Deastock."

"And leave your city unprotected?" Tary says, puffing up in offence. "Really, Percival, as if I would leave - as if I _could_ leave, when lives may have been on the line!" 

Percy snorts, an exhausted excuse for a laugh that seems to startle him. He pats Tary's shoulder and moves past him. 

"You have my thanks," he says in distracted, habitual noble-speak. He hesitates, looking over his shoulder to Vex. "Will you be alright if I...?"

"Go," she whispers, voice wrecked and trembling. "She needs you."

Percy gives her one last lingering look. 

"I love you, Vex'ahlia." His voice is impossibly soft, almost too quiet to carry, and the simple devotion in his words is heart-stopping. 

"...I love you too."

He slips into his sister's room, softly calling her name. Taryon and Vex are left alone in the hall. 

He feels his expression pinching and spares half a moment to despair over early wrinkles before moving to her side. Trinket snuffles and bays mournfully, nudging his head against Tary's thigh. 

"Hello, buddy," he says. He's grown used to the bear by now, of course, but there's always a lingering unease and awe at such a giant beast behaving more like a lapdog than a wild predator. "Well done, taking care of them for me." Vex's breath catches in her throat, drawing his attention. He takes her hand, which stays limp in his. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Her free hand covers her mouth, her whole body curving inwards. He tuts and pushes back against her rounded shoulders. 

"None of that now," he says briskly, affecting his mother's tone to the best of his ability. "You'll ruin your back like that. Chin up, dear."

She pitches forwards, leaning awkwardly against his breastplate. He freezes, unsure of how to continue. Vex has never been overly physically affectionate beyond playful teasing and flirtation - certainly, the few times he's had to comfort her in hard times, she's never collapsed like this. She clings to him like she's drowning, and from the ragged heaving of her breath she might as well be. Tary wracks his brain, trying to remember what helps him when he's distraught. 

He runs his fingers through her hair, awkwardly at first and freezing when it draws a sob from her, but she pushes insistently against his hand like a cat until he continues. 

They spend a few moments in silence, rocking slowly in place, until she seems to have exhausted herself for the time being. 

"Tell me everything," he says quietly, a sad parody of their usual gossip. 

"We fought a god," she whispers. Tary feels himself freeze again. Her shoulders shake with wry, hysterical laughter. "We fought a god and we _won_."

His mouth is dry. There's a faint ringing in his ears. He pulls Vex closer to him, breath quickening. 

"You're alive," he marvels. " _Gods above_ , you're _alive_."

She shakes her head violently, "It doesn't feel like it." In a flurry of rapid, disjointed movement she pushes away from him again. His arms hover outstretched, at a loss. 

"Vex -"

"Don't," she snaps. "You don't get it, you can't." She wraps her arms around herself tight enough that he can see her knuckles whiten against her sides. She takes a faltering step backwards down the hallway. "I should go, I need to go, I can't _breathe_ -"

"Vex'ahlia, wait, talk to me, we're fr - we're family."

" _My family is dead!_ " She shrieks. 

Silence rings like a tolling bell, like temples during funerals, like the last clash of steel before the stillness of a battles end. He should write some of these down... later, of course. 

Taryon spares half a thought for his freshly-polished armour before wriggling out of the breastplate and pauldrons and letting them clatter to the floor with a loud crash. It's a trial getting it off with Doty's help, but he manages well enough, and the noise startles Vex into freezing instinctively so she's still there by the time he's free. 

"Don't run," he says, forcing his voice to not waver. "Not yet. Not when you're like this."

She stares at him wide-eyed. Her hair is mostly out of her face now, showing how pale she is under the tear-streaked grime coating her. Tary fusses, clucking his tongue, "At least get cleaned up a bit, dear, I promise it will help."

"A fancy bath wont fix anything," she snaps. Her teeth are bared. Trinket's head is swinging between them, a confused rumble building in his chest. "Nothing will fix it, nothing can help, he's -" her voice breaks. "He's gone, She _took him from me_ and he's _gone_."

He takes a hesitant step forward, mindful of the protective bear at her side. He keeps his arms half-outstretched and his palms raised. It feels a little silly, like he's trying to talk down a feral beast rather than help his dearest friend, but there's a distinctly cornered look in her eye that makes him certain that she's moments away from running away to her forest and never coming back. 

"Who?" He asks quietly, but Vex is distraught and entirely alone right now and he's starting to piece together a horrifying, heartbreaking puzzle. She chokes on a sob. "Gods, Vex, I - tell me, _please_."

Memories flash by in moments: a companion, a friend, a brother in arms, a melancholy smile, an easy knife-sharp grin, a great sense of destiny and a greater sense of humour. Vax, pressing a drink into his hands. Vax, pulling him aside and confiding in him how he understood, how he knew how much it hurts to be scorned for who you love. Vax, pulling him from danger time and again. Vax, lounging in the sun with Keyleth, deliriously happy as they watch Pike and Grog wrestle in the sand. 

Finally, like a marionette with its strings cut, Vex collapses to the ground. Her knees buckle and she barely tries to catch herself. He's kneeling in front of her in a heartbeat, shooing Trinket away as the bear noses Vex anxiously. 

"My brother," she sobs, not reaching out but not resisting when Taryon pulls her back against his chest. "My brother, my Vax, oh gods, _Vax_ , I can't breathe, Vax'ildan..."

He shushes her wordlessly, awkwardly moving them until he's sitting against the wall with Vex curled against his side. Her nails dig into his shoulder, and he doesn't complain. 

"There now," he manages, voice thick with his own tears. "I know, darling, I know, I felt - the necklace was going crazy for so long there, I was so scared, but you're here. The rest of you -" he freezes. "The rest...?"

She nods miserably, smearing snot and tears across his shirt. He breathes a shaky sigh of relief. 

They spend a while longer in silence. Taryon of all people guides her through deep breaths until she's a little steadier, though still limp and wrung-out against him. 

Percy joins them eventually. Tary takes a moment to study him from the corner of his eye, taking in the dirt left over from his rushed clean up, the tremble in his hands even when still in his lap, the shadow in his eyes. His eyes stay fixed on Vex'ahlia, but he stays sitting on Taryon's other side, with space between them. The gap feels miles wide. 

Vex's breathing settles into sleep, exhaustion finally catching up with her. Tary shifts to pillow her better against his shoulder before turning his attention to Percival. His work here isn't done yet. 

"How is Cassandra?" He asks first, to be polite. 

Percy nods, "Recovering. I..." His eyes squeeze shut for a second. "She was... He used her. Vecna. Took her away and let us..." He stops, sounding like he's about to gag on the words. Taryon doesn't push. 

It's always been Vex who needs pushiness and unrelenting concern to open up, always convinced she's stronger than she is. Percy is similar, but he's also prone to thinking aloud, and given time will usually bring things up himself - sometimes in a manic fit which isn't ideal, but still, he's more likely to clam up when prodded. Best to let him get his thoughts in order. 

It's surprising how much he's learned, Tary thinks in the pause. He's never bothered noticing so much about other people before. It's _exhausting_. 

He's never been happier than when he was here. 

"...I don't know where we go from here," Percy confesses finally, staring at his hands. He curls and uncurls his fingers. "I don't know how to fix this."

Tary hums, thinking. 

"Maybe," he says slowly. "There's nothing left to fix." Percy looks at him sharply, prompting him to scramble to finish. "I only mean that 'fixing' implies making something the way it used to be. But you can't do that here, so instead..." He lets the thought hang. 

"...We rebuild," Percy finishes. His expression shifts from wounded to considering. "We make something new, from what's left of the old."

"That's progress," Tary says, earning a fleeting, fragile smile. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too," Percy says with hardly any hesitation. 

He side-eyes Taryon, an uncharacteristically shy look crossing his face. He looks like he's biting his tongue. Tary sighs dramatically, knowing what he's good for. 

"Come here," he demands imperiously, opening his other arm. "Knowing you were out there fighting a _god_ , heavens know you're all _terrible_ for my blood pressure."

Percy leans in carefully, tension easing slowly until he's nearly boneless against Tary's side. His voice is muffled by the way his cheek is smushed against his shoulder. 

"We should find a bed."

"If you want to try moving Vex right now, be my guest."

"...This is fine for now."

The three of them fall asleep on the floor outside Cassandra's room. She wakes Percy thirteen hours later, nudging him with her foot and watching Trinket warily as he snores sprawled across Vex's legs. 

"Sleep well, brother?" Her voice is still thready with pain and exhaustion, but she's steady on her feet. He bats her ankle clumsily, groaning at the light coming through the tall curtains across the hall. 

"I've slept worse," he says. He looks over his companions, gaze lingering on Vex'ahlia's face and her hand tangled with Taryon's. "Much worse."

Taryon rouses at the quiet conversation, head turning and burying further into Percy's hair. 

"Missed you," he mumbles, pulling him and Vex closer. 

Percy pointedly does not notice Cassandra's expression, a terrible younger-sibling-specific mix of smugness, disgust, and terribly soft affection. 

He's almost entirely back to sleep when he feels another warm body gingerly press against his side. He breathes a little easier with his sister under his other arm. Tary mumbles nonsense into his hair. Vex'ahlia snuffles and throws an arm across all of them.

The four of them sleep another three hours before the floor becomes too uncomfortable.


End file.
